Bankbeater

Sorry to hear this. It's always hard when you loose a friend that is a member of the family.

I like a 7'0" MHF for 1/2 spinnerbaits, but in a pinch I have cast them on a MF. Not ideal and I didn't like doing it, but making shorter casts and slowing the retrieve way down will put less stress on the rod.

In the early spring darker colored craws seem to be the ticket. Later on in summer lighter colors work better. I don't know if it's the water clarity or if I'm matching the color of the craws in the lake.

I look for submerged humps out in deeper water. I will either anchor over the top of the hump, or at the bottom of it and then drag the bait up or down the side of the hump. Not my favorite way to fish, but it works.

I'll be fishing more in the vegetation. Punching mats when I can find them.

Thanks for the link.

Thank you for all you've done. RIP.

My dad and I were out catfishing from the bank back in a cove some years back. We would hook a fish, but if we were near a certain spot we would always get snagged bringing the fish in. After this happened 2 or 3 times my dad said next time we come here we're bringing the boat and anchoring on the far side. A few weeks later we're back on this lake, but out of a boat on the opposite side of the cove. We cast bait into that spot where we get snagged and start getting bites. We boat this one channel cat that had 5 or 6 different hooks stuck in its mouth. We ended up with a nice stringer of fish that day.

Congratulations on the first of many chaturbait bass!

I like a 6’6” mh with 15 lb mono or a 6’6” m rod with 10 lb mono depending on the thickness of the cover.

A red or bright orange lipless crankbait.

A black and blue jig now. Before that it was a Storm subwart.

I had that happen about 10 years ago, but the only difference is the bass didn't get hooked. The bass was a dink, and the worm with the hook in it turned sideways. The hook couldn't pass back through the gills.

Hope your healing up. Last year I strained by back, but kept going with it. About a week later it just gave out and started to spasm. I think I didn't let it heal enough and the muscles back there finally just quit working. After 2 days it was finally strong enough where I could walk again. Without doing exercises a couple of times a week, who knows how long I would have been down.

I like a nice yard, but the grass clippings really do a job on my allergy. Now I try to cut when the grass is damp, or when we have a strong wind.

A Beetle Spin. In 20 years of fishing I have only caught 1 dink with that bait.

I've heard this before, and it makes sense to me now when you think about how small a 1/4 ounce jig is compared to a 5 lb bass.

I have gotten to the point where I would rather fish artificial baits than live or cut bait. I'll fish the real thing for cat, but that is about it.

Good job catching!

I look for vegetation and grass growing out of rip rap. There always seems to be a bass sitting nearby when I find that.

I'm going to forget I even saw this.

I have caught a couple on perch patterns over the years, but I have better luck fishing with craw and shad patterns.

I let the bladed jig sink to the bottom, and then slow roll it back. Sometime I stop the retrieve and let it sit on the bottom for a few seconds then start the retrieve again.

This year I have caught them on spinnerbaits, swimjigs, crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, topwaters, and t-rigged plastics. The bite has been tough and the bass want a different bait on each trip.

I like fishing lakes, but I like rivers when I'm going after smallies.